All of our dogs at Pets
with Disabilities are disabled. They are the dogs that are overlooked because of “the defect”
people see on the outside - people typically aren't willing to take the
time to see the wagging tail of the deaf dog chasing the ball across the
yard, or the blind dog going up a flight of stairs to get the treat or
hug they know is waiting for them, or the 3 legged dog run like the wind
with their friends in the joy of living.

As
you read their stories - be prepared to make a "Heart
Connection" with one or more. They each
have their own unique gifts of joy and love of life.

Pets with Disabilities is we are located in
Southern Maryland.
WE WILL ONLY ADOPT DOGS INTO OUR REGION
-which includes MD, VA, WV, DE, NJ, PA & NY (ie within a 6 hr
drive of the rescue)

Please email
us for additional information concerning a specific dog - the adoption
process will begin with a completed
application.

Austin
attended our Annual Open House - as a "rock star", meeting many
people. One of the couples that met him were quite intrigued by his
presence and zest for life and they returned the following weekend
to really spend some quality time with him. They soon forgot about
his physical presence and realized this was a "normal playful 1 year
old" that just needed a home. Since this was unchartered territory
for them they decided to foster Austin over the holidays. Austin's
personality quickly won them over and they fell in love. They
finalized Austin's adoption last week. Merry Christmas to our
Austin, he received the best gift ever - a home! If you want to
continue watching the adventures of Austin, he has his own
instagram@theaustionroo
.

A note from his
adopter's "Austin is an amazing dog with a wonderful spirit. His
high energy and big smiles light up every room he walks in to. When
we first heard about Austin we were intrigued by this unique
situation and decided to foster him to see if we could help. He is
slowly getting used to his wheelchair and is building up his
confidence with each walk. Austin and our other dog, Reese, love to
play tug of war or chase each other in the yard. Austin is also
fascinated by our cat, Onyx, and the two of them are building a
relationship too. Austin is certainly happy – playing with his toys,
tackling Reese, or simply laying on the couch with us. After some
time with him it was clear he was already part of our family and we
decided to make it official!"

Austin is a 9 month
old Border Collie mix who was living life large in Texas until
that fateful day in June 2018 when his herding instincts kicked in
and he propelled himself out of his person's jeep. Splaying his
front legs to protect his fall caused severe irreversible nerve
damage to his front legs. From June to September Austin did not
receive much medical care. His person was hoping for a miracle that
he would use his 2 front legs. That did not happen and finally the
decision was made to euthanize Austin. AND with that one decision to
euthanize, Austin finally had a network of angels. First the young
woman who worked at the veterinarian office who took it upon
herself to find Austin a rescue and raised funds to go towards his
upcoming surgery and medical care. She sent us an email and the
rest is history. She and a friend traveled with Austin from Texas to PWD. These two determined
and compassionate individuals drove Austin
1,500 miles to ensure he was safe and well cared for. Austin is a
great dog whose spirit is definitely not broken, and now has a team
of people who will be rooting for him as we begin the process to
make his life better and pain free on 2 legs. This is definitely
some new territory for us and we are learning day-to-day what
Austin's abilities are. Austin will have his front legs amputated
and will be fitted to a frontwheeled cart. Austin's medical care
will exceed $6,000. A big THANK YOU to Roosevelt the Border Collie's
fur mom who has enlightened and educated us on a dog's life with a
frontwheeled cart.

We will keep you posted on Austin's
journey. He is amazing and has a very loving personality. We are
looking forward to the day in the near future where he can wheel
around the yard and keep up with the others, because we know that is
what he wants to do! He is incredibly motivated and determined which
will help him overcome his disability.

Update October 2018:
Austin the Incredible is out of surgery and now in recovery after
the removal of his two painful injured front legs. Today is the
start of his new “normal”. The beginning of his Journey as a two
legged pup. Please send well wishes to our sweet boy. The
veterinarian and staff say he is still a happy boy wagging his tail
and all.

Duchess is a two
year old, blind, white German Shepherd. She was born blind and
has lived her entire life in an isolated, filthy, chain link kennel
in California, along with 40 other dogs that were rescued. It was
heart breaking to find out Duchess had been left behind, due to her
disability, while so many of the other dogs were on their way to a
better life. PWD was contacted and raised the funds to fly her from
California to Maryland, in early December.

She is now in a
fabulous/experienced foster home and is adjusting slowly to a more
controlled home environment. She is doing great and making daily
progress. We think she did pretty much anything she wanted to for
the past 2 years, so this has been quite a change for her. She is
enjoying all her new canine and feline friends but is a bit unsure
of humans. We will give her the time she needs to learn that humans
are part of her world now.

Duchess is not available for
adoption yet as we continue to learn a little bit more about her and
how she settles in a home.

Trini is a one year
old collie/hound mix needing an amputation. Trini was a stray
in a South Carolina shelter. She was found with a severely injured
leg, bearing no weight on it. PWD happily stepped in to help her
because we were told - in one word - this little girl is AWESOME!

She is petite, weighing only 35
lbs. She is quiet, smart, and learned the rescue routine in
seconds. Trini loves her bed and a big knucklebone - we don't think
she has had much exposure to toys - but, she will here. She is
great with dogs, excited around people, crate trained, and great in
the car. She came into the rescue a little shy at first, but once
she knew she was safe, her personality blossomed quickly. She is a
very photogenic dog and will make a great addition to almost any
family.

We are taking applications for this
pup. Her amputation is scheduled for January 4 and she will be ready
to go after that! (Because Trini is a young, vibrant dog, she will
recuperate quickly.)

ADOPTION PENDING

Meet Princess,
a 7 year old 60 lbs. Aussie/lab mix who is deaf. Princess
found herself in a rural Virginia Shelter after her fur mom passed
away. She is an extremely smart and loving dog. Although she is
deaf, she is alert and very tuned into her surroundings. Her recall
is phenomenal, when we need her to return to the barn and settle in
her apartment she returns quickly with just a simple hand command.

She even knows how to sit and give you her paw. (She will do
anything for a treat!) She lives for her food, treats, and knuckle
bones! She has been a very easy dog, house trained, good on a lead,
sleeps a lot but does love to go out and explore, crate trained and
a good car rider. She would be great as an only dog or with an older
calm dog. Please consider making Princess part of your family

Sally
found a Heart Connection with Pamela Park

Sally is a 3
year old pittie mix, missing her left eye due to an injury. Sally was a stray that landed in a West Virginia Shelter.

After spending
some time at PWD, Sally found the opportunity to live in a wonderful
foster home. She thrives in a home environment with a routine and lots
of structure. She is a fast learner who wants nothing more than to
please her owner and receive their love and approval. While Sally
may initially appear very high energy, she is learning each day to
greet humans and other dogs more politely. She’s a confident alpha
female, who would be good as an only dog or with a larger,
non-reactive companion.

This one-eyed gal
loves to play with humans or by herself. Tennis balls, squeaky toys
and skinneez are some of her favorites. She also does puzzles and
loves popsicles (wet food frozen with water) on hot afternoons! Once
playtime is over, Sally curls up near her foster for some much
needed sleep.

Sally LOVES to
give kisses to humans and other dogs and even lives with cats and a
rabbit in her foster home. Normally, it is a peaceful setting unless
one runs from Sally and she thinks they are playing chase!
Therefore, she is working on her ‘here’ recall. While she
occasionally has accidents due to excitement or changes, she has
responded very well with structured routines and quiet time in her
crate. Sally is perfectly cratetrained and walks well on a leash.
She knows the following commands: sit, down, off, stay, touch,
watch, leave it, here, crate), and learns more each week at obedience
class.

Within two weeks
of being in her recent foster home, she patiently awaits mealtime by
sitting and waiting for the ok command to begin eating. She also
sits for her leash to be taken on and off when going out. She’s
currently working on ‘leave it’ with treats (so tough as she’s food
driven)! Sally is an absolute love and will bring her new family lots of
joy!

Charity
Hix has a Heart Connection with Molly - Thank
you!!

Molly is a 10yr old blind dog that came to us from a shelter in West Virginia.
Molly's plea was sent out to MANY rescues, but all rejected her
due to her age and disability. Finally PWD was contacted and we
couldn’t turn our back to this cute pup. Molly is a survivor, only weighing about 20 lbs. when picked up by animal control. She
was blind, malnourished and so weak, she could barely walk. Finally
after some much needed TLC she gained weight and strength, and her
mobility has returned to almost normal. Her personality has
blossomed too. She is good with other dogs, but due to her history
she is a little fearful of them getting into her bubble.

She loves her bed, food time, and when outside loves
to snuggle in a bed of leaves, comforts she has never experienced. We think that
one level living in a quiet environment would be
best for her. She is a quiet easy pup to manage, she sleeps a
lot. She can be placed with other dogs, but they should be patient
and tolerant with her. We can't erase history for Molly but we can
make her future bright, safe and trusting!

Bishop is a handsome 4-5 year old lemon hound, who is deaf. He
was surrendered to one of our Virginia shelters we partner with. He is
about 50 lbs., fun, active, goofy pup, that will put a smile on your
face. He loves attention, and will curl up and lay on just about
anything. He has flourished here at PWD and has made many new friends
here. A sweet gentle soul good with people, cats and great with kids.
However, Bishop has some possession issues with other dogs and so we do
feel he does needs to be an only dog. Bishop would do great in a
secure area or leash walking.

Our
sweet Bear has been adopted! We recently got an adoption update and
he is loving life on the farm. "Bear is doing fantastic, he is
becoming fast friends with all the humans, cats and horses! This is
him enjoying his Christmas gift from a neighbor! Thank you so much
for Bear!!"

Meet Bear! a 4 year old 3-legged dog...

This handsome boy is a charmer and drop dead gorgeous! He made my
life so easy today while photographing him- posing the whole time!
Don't I wish they were all so easy!

He
is going to make one lucky family so happy for many years to come.
He has just arrived here from a shelter in NC. Bear was found caught
in a steel trap. He tried hard to free himself and in the process
damaged his teeth and his leg. His former person neglected to take
him to the vet after he found him in the trap severely injured.
Thankfully Bear had an angel on his side who noticed him and
reported his condition to authorities. Bear was removed from his
former life and his new journey began- starting with immediate vet
care to amputate his badly injured leg.

He
is a gem of a dog, a no fuss no muss kinda pup! We believe he is an
Australian Kelpie Mix. Bear is approximately 4-5 years old, is
housetrained, great on leash, quiet, calm, loyal and obedient (all
words coming from his temporary foster mom before he arrived at PWD!)....So
needless to say this boy probably won't be here long

Temporarily UnavailableBetty
Bee is a 9 year old 40 pound black lab/beagle mix that needs an
amputation. Betty was another stray that landed in one of our
neighboring shelters. We were asked to rescue Betty and treat her
non weight bearing right front leg. Although she needs surgery,
Betty had a bad case of the dog flu when we rescued her. We are
evaluating these other medical issues prior to scheduling an
amputation. Since she has been with us, we are able to see some of
her personality starting to appear.

She is an independent soul, easy
going, very quiet, and seems house broken. She is great in the car,
good on lead, good with kids, a sweet girl that is coming out of her
shell now that she feels safe. She does not mind dogs, but seems to
get very nervous when they get into her space. This could be due to
her injury but we think she would feel more comfy as an only dog,
and would be a fantastic dog for our local city dwellers!

Meet Raven - a 5 year old, blind, handsome hound, that is great with dogs and
people. Raven came to us with some anxiety issues that we have
worked hard to find a happy medium for him. We have adapted our
surroundings to make him happy and less anxious. He seems to be
making great strides with simple routine, new dog friends, and a
little help from Prozac. He weighs approx 45 lbs

Raven is looking for a very special person -someone who might want
to give this boy a chance - with the support of PWD. He is
safe at PWD until he finds that person.